Someone Tell the President the War Is Over (NYT)

[alarcojon]

Chaeck out the comparisons of Bush's approval ratings with respect to the war (and in general) with LBJ's in 1968!

LIKE the Japanese soldier marooned on an island for years after V-J Day, President Bush may be the last person in the country to learn that for Americans, if not Iraqis, the war in Iraq is over. "We will stay the course," he insistently tells us from his Texas ranch. What do you mean we, white man?

A president can't stay the course when his own citizens (let alone his own allies) won't stay with him. The approval rate for Mr. Bush's handling of Iraq plunged to 34 percent in last weekend's Newsweek poll - a match for the 32 percent that approved L.B.J.'s handling of Vietnam in early March 1968. (The two presidents' overall approval ratings have also converged: 41 percent for Johnson then, 42 percent for Bush now.) On March 31, 1968, as L.B.J.'s ratings plummeted further, he announced he wouldn't seek re-election, commencing our long extrication from that quagmire.

But our current Texas president has even outdone his predecessor; Mr. Bush has lost not only the country but also his army. Neither bonuses nor fudged standards nor the faking of high school diplomas has solved the recruitment shortfall. Now Jake Tapper of ABC News reports that the armed forces are so eager for bodies they will flout "don't ask, don't tell" and hang on to gay soldiers who tell, even if they tell the press.

The president's cable cadre is in disarray as well. At Fox News Bill O'Reilly is trashing Donald Rumsfeld for his incompetence, and Ann Coulter is chiding Mr. O'Reilly for being a defeatist. In an emblematic gesture akin to waving a white flag, Robert Novak walked off a CNN set and possibly out of a job rather than answer questions about his role in smearing the man who helped expose the administration's prewar inflation of Saddam W.M.D.'s. (On this sinking ship, it's hard to know which rat to root for.)

...more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/opinion/14rich.html?ex=1281672000&en=5bebdca63efafe5c&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Someone tell the president what a Meglomaniac is, then tell him he is one.

[rodeodance]

3. grand headline-too bad not on front page.

[fishnfla]

2. Frank Rich like butter ,baby

'Cuz he's on a roll!

[rodeodance]

4. this made me chuckle----about cindy and Jr standoff.

....Only someone as adrift from reality as Mr. Bush would need to be told that a vacationing president can't win a standoff with a grief-stricken parent commandeering TV cameras and the blogosphere 24/7.

[rodeodance]

7. also takes of Cheney's FANTASY

....WHAT lies ahead now in Iraq instead is not victory, which Mr. Bush has never clearly defined anyway, but an exit (or triage) strategy that may echo Johnson's March 1968 plan for retreat from Vietnam: some kind of negotiations (in this case, with Sunni elements of the insurgency), followed by more inflated claims about the readiness of the local troops-in-training, whom we'll then throw to the wolves. Such an outcome may lead to even greater disaster, but this administration long ago squandered the credibility needed to make the difficult case that more human and financial resources might prevent Iraq from continuing its descent into civil war and its devolution into jihad central.

Thus the president's claim on Thursday that "no decision has been made yet" about withdrawing troops from Iraq can be taken exactly as seriously as the vice president's preceding fantasy that the insurgency is in its "last throes." The country has already made the decision for Mr. Bush. We're outta there. Now comes the hard task of identifying the leaders who can pick up the pieces of the fiasco that has made us more vulnerable, not less, to the terrorists who struck us four years ago next month.

[grytpype]

5. Rich always hits the bullseye.

[fishnfla]

8. I'd have to gently disagree

He has really been hitting his stride lately, his writing is reflecting a more thorough, reasoned style. His heart has always been in the right place to be sure, but his content seemed to be brief, abrupt and scattered. Now his heart and his head are joined in chorus. Look at the length of this piece, for example. He's maturing, it seems to lil' ol' me, and he'll be a great one to have on our team.

[indepat]

6. When one controls all the levers of power, does one give a diddledy-damn

what others think, especially when the fourth estate is also controlled for all intent and purposes? I think not.

[rodeodance]

9. prob. not--but this sure is enjoyable to read. He does a lot of smack-

downs.

[rodeodance]

10. and he smakes cable news personalities. novak, o'Lielly and Ann C.

.......The president's cable cadre is in disarray as well. At Fox News Bill O'Reilly is trashing Donald Rumsfeld for his incompetence, and Ann Coulter is chiding Mr. O'Reilly for being a defeatist. In an emblematic gesture akin to waving a white flag, Robert Novak walked off a CNN set and possibly out of a job rather than answer questions about his role in smearing the man who helped expose the administration's prewar inflation of Saddam W.M.D.'s. (On this sinking ship, it's hard to know which rat to root for.)......

[rodeodance]

11. recommended.

[alarcojon]

12. Yeah, I laughed at that

Coulter and O'Shithead going at each other over this!

[NJCher]

13. I gotta' go with grytpype

This man always hits the bullseye.

I love this column because it dwells on the realities of the situation. It also further perpetuates the image of a bush who's out of touch. Just so, so out of touch.

Reality won't bother this crew, though. Oh no sirreee. They'll continue plowing as many bodies and billions into this as they can--until someone literally, physically stops them.


Cher

[rodeodance]

23. yes--I think also that it is about 'saving face' at this point (stay the

course).

[speedoo]

14. Must read column.

Frank Rich has written a brilliant analysis of the Iraq situation. Recommended.

"A president can't stay the course when his own citizens (let alone his own allies) won't stay with him. The approval rate for Mr. Bush's handling of Iraq plunged to 34 percent in last weekend's Newsweek poll - a match for the 32 percent that approved L.B.J.'s handling of Vietnam in early March 1968. (The two presidents' overall approval ratings have also converged: 41 percent for Johnson then, 42 percent for Bush now.) On March 31, 1968, as L.B.J.'s ratings plummeted further, he announced he wouldn't seek re-election, commencing our long extrication from that quagmire."

[bvar22]

15. Frank Rich dreadfully WRONG about 1 thing!

He seems to believe that the only mistake was sending too few troops to Iraq, and that if we could send MORE NOW, everything would work out.
He is DEAD WRONG!

NO amount of White, Christian, Western troops can successfully occupy an Ancient, Brown, Muslim country INDEFINATELY.
The Middle Eastern Countries have been invaded and occupied by White, Christian, Western agressors many times in the last 2000 years.
NOT ONE SINGLE OCCUPATION WAS SUCCESSFUL!!!
The Middle Eastern Muslims KNOW how to make the PRICE TOO HIGH!
They have the patience developed over CENTURIES to wait out the Invader!

The "amount" of troops doesn't matter.


Aside from that little point, Rich was pretty ON with his column.

[wli]

18. Hulagu Khan was successful

But he had the stomach for even harsher tactics than Bushler (not that I advocate anything of the kind).

[rodeodance]

24. yes, I agree. So many have fallen for this (repukes, dems).

[Donailin]

16. In four short years, that asshole has wrecked everything here and

there and all points in between. I just can't believe it to this day that this shit is going on. I just can't fucking believe it, still.

I was a kid during the Viet Nam years, between 5 and 11. I remember the war on TV at dinner. I don't remember any comments from my parents, but I remember the McGovern Convention in NY -- my mom dragged me, I remember the song "Hands Across the Water" by McCartney and Wings being my favorite song in the world and playing in my mom's VW BUG on our way to Nassau County Collusiem. I have no recollection of my parents views on the war, or Nixon, or any american history for that matter. I just remember the bleachers and looking for quarters and buttons and that song.

Here I am today with three teens, 16, 15, 13. All they have heard in the last four years is my lamentations, complaints, vulgarities and mini history lessons. Whoever is in the room with me at any given time cannot leave until they have had yet another example of hypocrisy of the ape pointed out to them in no uncertain terms. They are encouraged to debate with me, with their teachers, with their friends. They are all pretty clear on the function of the government and the abuse of power that we are living through. My oldest two, my sons, are in AP courses in Government and Politics (not to mention music theory and english). I want my kids to recognize right from the get-go when they are of voting age how to discern the wheat from the chaff. My parents did not instill that in me, I had to learn the hard way -- by living through this shit. Maybe my parents learned the hard way too.Here we are, forty years-- a generation -- later repeating the same mistakes. We HAVE to teach our children to be completely involved and aware. Not just about voting every four years, but byy being completely involved in the communities and the leadership within the community, the school even. (Right now, the daughter of the President of the PTA is upstairs with my daughter -- her father is a total and rabid republican)I had to find out the hard way that other people are making decisions based on THEIR twisted ideology for MY CHILDREN! There is no room for complacency anywhere, that is how we got into this mess. We have to be ever vigil and detect and reject these people very early on.

[mconvente]

17. Literally best article I've read in a LONG time

Rich hits the nail on numerous points. The original over-hype and LIES starting in 2002, changes in the reasoning for war from WMDS to "we'll find them" to "well they didnt have them but saddam was evil!!" to "preventing terrorism". Rich's points on Hackett's impressive showing in Ohio's 2nd, to the criticism, albeit minor, from Hagel and Allen, plus Cindy's brave mission, show that Chimp is as lameduck as one can be, and an unfortunate destructive one at that.

[VolcanoJen]

19. That's as blunt as it gets in the mainstream...

... I imagine this article will get some play during the Sunday morning talk shows. Look to Stephanopolous to bust it out instead of Russert, though.

Or Wolf. You're in the situation room!

I love Frank Rich, but I'm used to him, you know? Still, at the end of that article, I took a deep breath and said, "Ouch!"

Well done, Mr. Rich.

[rodeodance]

20. I do hope it gets some play on the Sunday shows--it is the truth.

[rodeodance]

21. "so eager for bodies they will flout "don't ask, don't tell" --this is new

to me---the hanging onto gay soldiers. They must be desperate.


....But our current Texas president has even outdone his predecessor; Mr. Bush has lost not only the country but also his army. Neither bonuses nor fudged standards nor the faking of high school diplomas has solved the recruitment shortfall. Now Jake Tapper of ABC News reports that the armed forces are so eager for bodies they will flout "don't ask, don't tell" and hang on to gay soldiers who tell, even if they tell the press.

[rodeodance]

22. I was referring to how Rich argues that Bush has military in the sense

that the military has recuitement problems regardless of what they say to the press.

[namvet73]

25. The next presidential election is *effectively* in 2006

This Op-ed was one of the best I have read to date!

It is my opinion that the next presidential election is effectively in 2006. With things going the way they are, the people will have their chance tip the scales of power back 2006. If this happens, the Connecticut Cowboy and his posse is toast. The 2006 election could render him powerless and even more.

It is my hope that 'W' will lose *all* protection from his Republican (or whatever it is) government and he and his cadre will be brought to justice. He has already lost some of it.

[susu369]

26. "We're outta there"

Hate to give away the punch line but that made me pause and then shout:

"The country has already made the decision for Mr. Bush. We're outta there."

[many a good man]

27. Texan presidents haven't won a war since 1845

Remember the Alamo? Hanoi? Baghdad?

[dpbrown]

28. The difference is that Bush will sacrifice citizens to a terrorist attack

Allowing a terrorist attack will let Bush float his numbers back up as people rally 'round the leader.

LBJ, arguably, had more morals.

[ooglymoogly]

29. great article

frank rich is on my greatest list. kick n nom

[Old Vet]

30. This is the kind of no bullshit MSM article.................

That makes things happen. (I can hope). Found myself muttering hell yes a few times. Just think how terrible it must be to be a troop in Iraq, Reading this article. Where is the ANGER at what bush has done to us and our country?

[Sacajawea]

31. Excellent!! Way to go Frank Rich!! Read it outloud to my S.O. today.

I think FR really made his points very, very well. :kick:

[Demeter]

32. Somebody Tell BushCo the Party's Over

And throw them all in the clink for disorderly conduct.

[Your_Moment_Of_Zen]

33. Reminds me of the quote

"A leader without followers is just a man taking a walk."

Walk Bush! Walk!

[Sacajawea]

34. Randi Rhodes read a part of it on her show this afternoon....

She really liked it! :thumbsup: